AVANDRA
by dbmarx1986
Summary: A firefly Fanfiction. Rated T for violence. Original Characters. Join the crew of Avandra as they struggle to survive in a Post Miranda Verse. I do not have any rights to firefly or serenity. The way I see it, no one does... cept Joss. I implore you to criticize my writing style, story pacin', and especially my adherence to canon...
1. The Bounty

I do not have any rights to firefly or serenity. The way I see it, no one does... cept Joss.

I implore you to criticize my writing style, story pacin', and especially my adherence to canon...

this don't mean I'm gonna listen to anything you ******* have to say. but I like hearin it.

This first bit is just some character backgrounds...pleasantries, if you will.

* * *

Firefly Fan Fiction

D.B. Marx

* * *

"Avandra"

A heavily modified Cl-54 Mugoschevny Super Cargo Lifter

The ship was bought used by Thomas Wu, after the Unification war was over. With some extra cash and time, Thomas was able to replace the original wings with Firefly '03 VTOL thrusters, and the Main engine was also pulled from the same Firefly. So, technically, Thomas bought two ships.

The Passenger deck was slightly altered to create more common area, resulting in smaller passenger dorms. The Engine bay, normally only accessible via a narrow 3rd floor walkway, was opened up so it could be reached at the back end of the passenger deck. This left the overhead walkway empty and seemingly useless. Thomas has since turned the top floor into a greenhouse of sorts.

Multiple solar panels were added to the hull, and the variable cargo bay system was replaced with a permanent Cargo Hold. This fact, along with Captain Thomas' personal feelings on the matter, meant Avandra would not receive the larger, better paying, Alliance Shipping Contracts. So now she operates as a small time transport almost exclusively for the outer colonies.

* * *

Captain Thomas Wu

Born "Ian Holt". His parents were middle-class trade barons, stationed on Ariel. Eventually Ian was drafted by the Alliance into the Unification war. It didn't take long for him to decide to go AWOL. He joined the Independents, and gave them useful intelligence on Alliance tactics, strategies, and numbers. As part of the deal, Ian received monetary compensation and Independent surgeons transplanted his eyes, so he wouldn't be hunted down by the Alliance. He then became Thomas Wu. Though the information Thomas gave wasn't enough to win the war, it did save many lives.

With the war over he was able to purchase a ship and now makes a living as a small time trader, transporter, and sometimes smuggler.

* * *

First Mate Jessie Lang

Jessie worked with "Thomas" and his parents before the war, as a deck hand- one of dozens. When the War broke out he fled to the border planets, dodging the Alliance draft. Jessie eeked out his existence as a mercenary during the war, protecting small Border Planet settlements for coin. When the war ended he found himself on Whitefall, working for a woman named Patience. The work was sometimes dirty, but she paid her fighters decent. One day, Jessie found himself having to choose between Patience and a Tradesman named Thomas. With the truth on his side, Jessie turned on Patience and fled Whitefall with his new old friend – Thomas.

* * *

Engineer Xiao Green

An orphan raised on Shadow. During her teenage years she began to stow away on ships. During this time she got to see the many different cultures of the Verse and gained a lot of technical expertise concerning ships and their engines. Eventually Xiao found work at the docks outside the Maidenhead on Beaumonde. Xiao was quite happy with her life there until one of the dock supervisors tried to rape her. In self-defense she became a "murderer". Unwilling to face public inquiry she did what came naturally to her – she stowed away on the first ship she could find.

Xiao was able to stay hidden for two weeks aboard that ship because it only had a two-man crew. When everything would get quiet she would sneak out and grab some food. Occasionally, out of habit, she would make small repairs to the engine. The lack of difficulties with the ship aroused suspicion from the Captain. When Xiao was finally discovered she thought she would be shot. However, her knowledge and capabilities found her hired on as a permanent Engineer for "Avandra".

* * *

Episode 001- THE BOUNTY

The wind blew tumbleweed across the plains of Deadwood as five figures stood, hands centimeters from their guns. The group was divided into two obvious camps. On one side stood Thomas Wu and Jessie Lang. On the other side stood Malcolm Reynolds, Jayne Cobb and Zoe Washburn.

Mal spoke first, breaking the eerie silence.

"Now, I'm not sure who you folks are, or why there's so much tension in the air, but maybe we could have some introductions before we start bein' stupid?"

Thomas- an older man with a full beard and a bald head- replied,

"I'm Captain Thomas Wu, and this is my first mate, Jessie."

Thomas gestured with his head to the young blonde man next to him.

"And we know who you are, Captain Reynolds," Thomas continued.

"We're not here for you or Zoe. It's Jayne we need."

Mal, looked over toward Jane, who gave him an incredulous look of confusion.

"Well, I don't know you!" shouted Jayne

"But if you're looking to get yerself shot, well…"

"_BIZUI_!" Mal interrupted.

"Now," Mal continued, "I'm sure Jayne might well have given you reason to come all the way out here and risk some bloodshed. Hell, I've got my own wants to beat him senseless…But he's part of my crew, and we will shoot you down if it comes to that, but I'd rather we settle this with words."

The quiet was unsettling as Thomas thought over his options.

After a few moments that seemed like hours, Thomas finally spoke.

"Jayne Cobb, we're here to collect you and bring you to Higgins' moon."

With all the necessary talking apparently finished, every person there pulled iron.

* * *

(INTRO MUSIC)

* * *

48 HOURS AGO….

Thomas sat alone in the 3rd level of his ship. Once a useless walkway, he had long ago converted it into a greenhouse. Now he sat, trimming his Bonsai as he wished he could make tomatoes grow faster.

Times were getting harder. News of the Alliance involvement in the Reaver Scandal had everyone panicking. The Alliance stock markets, particularly Blue Sun stocks, were creating mountains and valleys on the graphs that stockholders watched so intently. The wealthy had become panicky and their purses were shutting left and right.

Thomas was still able to sell his fruits and vegetables, but that never raked in the kind of coin you need to keep a ship in the air.

Normally, Thomas would supplement his income by taking on passengers. But these days no one wanted to leave their own planet. Everyone was suspicious of the atmosphere on a planet they hadn't grown up on.

This, to Thomas, was a _fangzong fengkuang de jie_. How could people be so crazy? But, in reality, Thomas did understand. If the Alliance had purposely mucked up one planet, who's to say they hadn't done so with another?

"Hell, maybe Bowdens was intentional…" Thomas said out loud, to no one in particular.

He would do this at times. Talk to his plants. His mother had told him once that it aids growth- not just for the plant but for the farmer also.

A sudden grinding of gears interrupted Thomas' thoughts. The elevator was on its way up and with it would be one of the other two members of his crew.

"Don't be Jessie. Let it be Xioa with complaints about engine parts, just don't let it be…"

The elevator reached the top and with it was a young man of decent build with blonde hair and blue eyes.

"Captain!?" Jessie shouted

"I know Jessie." Replied the captain

"We've been sittin on this rock for two weeks now…" Jessie stated.

"I know Jessie." Replied the captain

"There's no work here…" Jessie continued.

"I know Jessie." Replied the captain

"So when do we plan on leavin?" asked Jessie.

Thomas stood up and stretched his back, as Jessie walked up to him.

"Can't fly without fuel. Can't fuel without coin." Thomas said, matter-of-factly.

"So what? We're just gonna sit here and watch tomatoes grow?" Jessie asked, the disdain in his voice growing.

"Until the whole Reaver scandal blows over," Thomas replied, "yes."

"Cap'n that's just _ben dan_." Jessie said.

This upset Thomas.

"No, Jessie," Thomas started as he stepped right into Jessies' face, "stupid is you comin' up here to ask me the same gorram questions you've been askin me for the past week. If you want to get off this rock so bad then, please, present me with some kind of plan instead of a series of _ben dan_ complaints."

For a moment the two men stared at each other. Thomas was pretty sure Jessie wouldn't try anything, but they had been stuck here, on Triumph, for two weeks. The lack of trade was upsetting to everyone, and Jessie – being a young man- was getting very antsy.

Finally, Jessie grunted in anger and stomped back to the elevator and out of Thomas' sight.

"That boy never did have any patience…" Thomas said as he sat back down to trim his Bonsai.

* * *

Sitting in the cockpit of the CL-54 known as "Avandra", Jessie logged into the Cortex and began looking for work. The ship wasn't entirely out of fuel. If he could find decent work, they could make a push to get where that work is. It would mean moving slow, but once there they could do the job- whatever it might be- then refuel.

Almost all of the job listings on the Cortex were for Alliance shipping. That was something Thomas didn't do and Jessie could agree with him on that. Neither of them had any love for the Alliance. But these days, even Jessie- a draft dodger- had to think about giving up ground where work was concerned.

After nearly an hour of filtering, Jessie was ready to give up and watch the tomatoes grow with the Captain. But something caught his eye. It was a listing for "personnel pickup and transport". It was posted by a border moon Baron by the name of Higgins'.

The Job was a cover. It was a bounty. Mercenary work. Jessie had spent a couple years on the moon Whitefall under the employ of a woman named Patience. She'd posted a few bounties herself while Jessie worked for her, so he recognized the job for what it really was.

The Captain would fight it, but it was work. Paying work. Jessie was sure the Captain would see reason.

* * *

Jessie went back up to the Greenhouse, but the captain wasn't there. In fact, he wasn't on the ship at all. He and Xiao had taken their "mule"- a worn ATV used for transporting bits of cargo across undeveloped worlds- and were helping the locals with a bit of plowing.

This was how Thomas and Xiao passed time and kept food on their plates for the last two weeks.

"It sure is a stroke of luck, you folks coming here during planting season." Said a local by the name of Chuck.

"Lucky for you maybe," replied Xiao " but your luck only came about because there's so little work out there for us."

"Don't be rude _mei-mei_," the captain said as he hopped off the Clydesdale that belonged to Chuck, "We're here to help."

"Sorry Captain," replied Xiao "I didn't mean anything by it Chuck."

Xiao cut the engine to the mule and hopped off. Xiao was a pretty young lady, with green eyes and brown hair. Her Chinese ancestry was apparent in her facial features. She wiped some sweat from her brow and walked over to an old water pump nearby.

After filling a bucket full of water she lifted it over her head and doused herself. This wasn't her best idea.

Some of the young men started staring at her, and Xiao immediately became self-conscious.

She had grown up an orphan and, later in life, was a dockworker. As such, she was a bit of a tomboy. She couldn't help it. It's just how she was.

But parts of her past have begun to make her realize that she was, in fact, female. She knew she needed to keep that in mind, but sometimes she just got too comfortable.

And now she was very un-comfortable.

"If we're done here captain…" She said as she hopped back on the mule, trying her hardest to ignore the young men who were now whispering to one another.

She didn't need to finish her sentence. Captain Thomas knew what the situation was.

"Of course _mei-mei_." He said as he walked past her and toward the young men who were becoming painfully aware of his presence.

Xiao kicked the engine of the mule back to life and made her way back to Avandra.

"See ya on the ship Cap'n." she shouted as she rode off.

"Chuck?" Thomas called for the man who owned the farm.

"I'm sorry about my boys, Captain. But your Xiao is quite a flower." Chuck apologized "Even so, it does not excuse their actions. They've been raised to know better and will be punished for their impure thoughts."

"I was just gonna ask for my pay…" replied the captain, "but all that sounds pretty satisfying."

"Of course." Chuck said. "I've got a crate of crops for you in the barn."

As Thomas made his way out of the barn with a crate of various foods and a small bag of coin, Xiao came riding back up on the mule with Jessie in tow.

"You here to do more complaining, Jessie?" Thomas shouted over the growl of the Mule.

"No." Jessie replied as Xiao cut the engine.

Jessie hopped off the mule and walked over to the Captain.

"Actually…" Jessie was cut off by Thomas shoving the crate of food into Jessies chest. "Ugh…Hey!?"

"Shut it Jessie," snapped the captain " you should count yourself lucky that you'll get to eat something other than processed protein."

"Right…" sighed Jessie "Look, Cap'n, I think I might have found us some work."

"We'll talk about it tonight." Thomas replied, "Right now, I wanna get back to Avandra and take a shower."

With that, Xiao turned the mule back on, waited for Jessie, the Captain, and the Crate to get settled on the Tow-cart, and then turned to ride out of town.

As they rode off , Jessie and Thomas got to watch Chuck chasing his boys around the farm with a mean looking switch. Jessie was confused but still found it funny. When he asked the Captain what that was all about, Thomas just smiled and said "Hormones."

* * *

"No!" Thomas repeated.

The Captain and Jessie were arguing about the validity of the work Jessie'd found while Xiao tried to keep her head down and ignore them. Xiao just tried to focus on getting a decent meal ready.

"Captain be reasonable…" Jessie pleaded.

"No." the Captain repeated himself "We ain't takin that kinda work."

"Right now, we aint takin any kinda work." Griped Jessie

"Jessie, we're not hitmen." Thomas insisted.

"It's not a hit," reiterated Jessie, " it's a bounty. We have the option of takin him in alive."

"Jayne Cobb!?" shouted the Captain, causing Xiao to jump "You think you're gonna take Jayne Cobb, from Malcolm Reynolds crew, ALIVE!?"

"Well," mumbled Jessie.

"Jessie," Thomas sighed, "you are my friend but that is simply naïve. Jayne Cobb and the rest of that crew fought off reavers and alliance ghosts…"

"That's here say." Jessie insisted.

"REAVERS AND GHOSTS," continued the Captain "and you think that he's just gonna let us take him to that mud farm moon?"

"You haven't heard me out…"Jessie pushed.

"You ain't said nothing worth hearin!" Thomas shouted, a firm sense of finality in his voice

"Dinner's ready…" Xiao said in annoyed tone.

Xiao finished setting the table as the two men stared each other down in silence.

"Captain…" Jessie started again, breaking the silence

"Shut up and eat Jessie." The Captain ordered.

And they did. It was a decent meal of protein mush and fresh veggies.

* * *

"Jayne Cobb, we're here to collect you and bring you to Higgins' moon."

With all the necessary talking apparently finished, every person there pulled iron.

"WAIT!" both Captains shouted.

Everyone was confused, upset, and armed. This could go very bad very quick.

Jessie spoke up, "But not legitimately."

"What're you babblin about?" Jayne asked.

Jessie holstered his pistol and sat down on the dirt.

"Higgins' got a bounty out on you. He wants you dead on account of his laborers holdin you up as some kinda hero."

"I know that bit…" replied Jayne, hiding his true feelings on the matter.

"And he wants to kill you himself," continued Jessie "All personal like."

"Yeah," Jayne said, becoming aggravated "and I don't plan on that happenin. So you need to get to the part that convinces me not to shoot you and walk away."

"Let's here him out Jayne" said Zoe, as she holstered her Mare's Leg.

"Yer just looking for a laugh, woman." Jayne grunted

"Maybe a bit…" Zoe smiled

Jessie stood back up slowly.

"The idea is to take you to Higgins, get the bounty, and then bust you right back out."

Malcolm chuckled. "Well, that's a hell of a plan, but I notice it's lackin in some details."

Thomas and Mal finally put their guns away.

"To be honest," Thomas said, "we don't have all the details worked out."

"Well then yer plan's stupid," Jayne scoffed "and I don't wanna be in it at all."

There was a moment of silence as everyone took in the situation.

"How much are we talking about?" Malcolm asked, finally breaking the calm.

"MAL!?" Jayne shot.

"Well, Jayne…" Mal replied.

"Aw c'mon Mal." pleaded Jayne.

"If the money's good enough," Mal continued "and no one really gets pinched, then we could all make out on this."

Mal turned to face Jayne "and you'd even get to make that _ben tian shung de yi dui rou_ look like an idiot for a whopping THIRD time."

Jayne smiled at the prospect, but quickly grew stern again.

"Yeah, well how do you all expect to get me out of that mess once I'm in?"

Mal relaxed as Jayne finally holstered his rather large pistol. "Well, I suppose that's why these fine gentlemen came all the way out here."

"_Shi-de_." Confirmed Thomas

"Right," continued Mal "So, since we're here, let's have ourselves a little brainstorming session."

Jayne seemed frustrated. Like a child needing to use the bathroom.

"But, I thought we were gonna visit the girls at the whore hou….Heart o' Gold."

Mal and Zoe both rolled their eyes and replied in unison "That can wait, Jayne."

* * *

Boss Higgins stepped out onto the front step of his mansion with a wide smile on his face. Not far off was a sight that he'd looked forward to for the last six months.

"Jayne Cobb," bellowed the portly baron "Hand delivered to my doorstep to pay for your crimes. Why, if I was a religious man I'd be thanking the almighty right here and now. But as it is, I suppose I should be thanking you, Captain Wu."

Jayne was not happy. And that made Higgins all the more joyful.

"Here's your man, Higgins, alive and unharmed." Spoke the Captain "Now where's my coin?"

"In a rush, Captain?" queried Higgins.

"A bit," the Captain replied, "Your planet smells."

The smile on Higgins face disappeared. He tossed a bag of platinum coins to Captain Thomas and said "There's your payment. Thank you very much Captain, my men will take it from here. Feel free to stop by the workers camp and get some refreshments. Just, don't tell them how you're paying for it." Higgins smile reappeared "I doubt they'll be as happy about your work as I am."

With the exchange done, Higgins' prods took hold of Jayne and dragged him out of sight behind the mansion.

Thomas and Jessie started walking away when Higgins' called after them.

"One thing I'm curious about," Higgins started, "How'd you get him alive? I thought for sure either he or his crew would shoot you down."

Thomas smiled "We found him napping in a whore house."

"And his crew?" asked Higgins

"Never met 'em." Replied Thomas, as he and Jessie walked away.

* * *

The smell of mud and sweat filled the air as Higgins prods tied Jayne Cobb to a statue of…Jayne Cobb.

All the workers came out to see their hero trussed up and beaten. Higgins had taken a few self-indulging shots at Jaynes face.

Jaynes eye was blackened, but Higgins' hand was bandaged. It was apparently the one reason for Jayne to keep smiling.

"I hope I didn't break your lily wrist too much, boss." Jayne laughed, wearily.

"Shut him up!" shouted Higgins.

One of the prods tied a cloth around Jaynes head, effectively gagging him.

Despite the gag, Jayne tried to sing the tune that he'd heard here all those months ago.

Jayne sang, the people cried, and Higgins' became more and more upset.

Higgins turned to his head prod. "That _bai-chi_, Captain Wu, gave us Jaynes pistol didn't he?"

"Yessir, Boss Higgins," replied the head prod as he handed the pistol to Higgins. "Be careful, Boss, it's loaded."

"Good!" shouted Higgins as he snatched the gun out of the prods hand. "NOW," the fat baron shouted so everyone could hear him "Now I'm going to shoot your precious Jayne Cobb with his own gun."

He smiled as he looked out over the crowd of workers. Some were crying. Some were tense and angry.

"His own gun," continued Higgins "loaded up with bullets that he paid for himself…"

Higgins turned to Jayne who was still singing his own anthem.

"Or did you steal them too?" Higgins snarled.

Higgins looked back over the crowd once more.

"Say goodbye to the Legend of Jayne."

Higgins took a step away from the Jayne, leveled the pistol, aimed it straight at Jaynes head, pulled back the hammer and pulled the trigger.

The flash of light was blinding. The trick bullet did the job. Higgins and his prods- even some of the workers- couldn't see anything but white for a few moments. But Higgins could hear some kind of fighting going on very close to him.

"What the hell is this!? Cobb! Hu dan!" Higgins shouted as he groped around blindly "What is happening!?"

The scuffle Higgins could hear but not see was Mal and Zoe tossing off their disguises. They had gotten here a day before Jayne and Thomas' crew, hid themselves amongst the workers, and were now pushing past Higgins' prods to untie Jayne.

The three of them- Jayne, the Captain and Zoe- were now sprinting off to the woods where they would find a shuttle waiting for them. Behind them they left cheering workers and a very angry Boss Higgins.

* * *

Against the star speckled backdrop of space, two ships floated together, connected by a docking tube. In the Cargo hold of the Firefly class transport known as Serenity, a group of ne'er-do-wells laughed heartily over the events that had just transpired. Except Jayne.

"I'm glad you guys are so amused, but nobody ever said anything about me getting roughed up." Jayne griped.

"Oh c'mon Jayne," Malcolm said as he caught his breath, "You stole 60,000 from that man, accidentally gave it to his slave workers, and foiled his later attempt to have you killed. He was probably a mite upset."

"Yeah, well," Jayne grumbled, "I still think I should have a bigger cut, seein as how I took the beatin."

The entire group sighed with content as they ignored Jaynes' complaint.

"Thank you again, Mal," spoke Thomas, "this little caper couldn't have happened without the extra fuel you gave us."

"Well," started Mal, " you earned it. And, I have to say, it has been a pleasure working with you Captain Wu…"

"It's Ian, Sergeant," Thomas said, interrupting Mal, "Ian Holt."

"I thought your name was…" Mal began to protest, when he realized the full meaning of the other Captains sentence.

"Ian…"Mal muttered, "Well, well. Then thank you Ian."

Mal held out his hand for a shake and Thomas took it.

"Thank you for everything." Mal finished.

With their business concluded, Thomas and Jessie headed for the airlock.

On his way out Jessie stopped and called for Jayne.

"Jayne Cobb."

"What?" Jayne said with an annoyed tone as he turned around. His hands reacted to catch an object falling in his direction. It was a small bag with just a little extra coin in it.

"You deserve that." Jessie said as he walked out of Serenity and into Avandra.

Against the quiet backdrop of space the two ships separated and headed off in different directions.

Both of them, looking for the next job.

* * *

OUTRO


	2. Syringes and Stowaways Pt1

I do not have any rights to firefly or serenity. The way I see it, no one does... cept Joss.

I implore you to criticize my writing style, story pacin', and especially my adherence to canon...

this don't mean I'm gonna listen to anything you ******* have to say. but I like hearin it.

* * *

Episode 002 – Syringes And Stowaways

* * *

An alarm sounded on the bridge of Avandra. It meant the cargo ship was approaching its next destination – Persephone.

A sleepy Captain with a freshly shaved scalp sat up in his pilots seat, and clicked on the ship wide intercom.

Static…

And then, "This is your captain speaking. We are preparing for re-entry."

Captain Thomas Wu turned to his monitors and began making course adjustments- changing the entry vector, increasing the artificial gravity output, running scans for in-atmo traffic…

The intercom cut back on, "You know we're the only ones on the ship and we can tell when we're approaching a planet, right?"

It was Jessie, Thomas' longtime friend and first-mate, playing around when he should be checking the straps on the cargo. Thomas wanted to be mad at the young blonde idiot, but he knew that if he was blasting over the ship wide intercom it meant he was already in the cargo hold. So Thomas just took hold of the helm and gave it a little jostle.

In the cargohold, Jessie was tightening the straps on the cargo they'd picked up when they refueled on New Kasmir – wood. Wood in all useful shapes and sizes. Beams, planks, sheets, blocks, composite, timber. All manner of wood.

Jessie was tightening the last strap when the Captain came over the intercom and notified anyone onboard that they were preparing for re-entry.

The only people on board were the crew - the crew that knew an hour ago that they were approaching Persephone. So Jessie, with his work done, gave Thomas a little hell over the intercom.

Jessie was laughing to himself and heading back up to the passenger deck when the ship lurched and he had to grab a railing for support.

"_Ta ma de!_" Jessie shouted as he steadied himself, "that _hwun dan_…"

In the Engine Room, a brown haired young lady of Chinese ancestry pulled her hair back and tied it in a loose ponytail. Her green eyes squinted as she peered down the main corridor of the ship to see Jessie stomping his way towards the bridge.

"Those two," she exclaimed to the ship, " they really do fit together."

Xiao, the ships engineer, marveled at how much those two loved to cause eachother grief. She shook her head as she pulled a fire extinguisher from the wall. Xiao knew Avandra - the ship - very well, and their recent push to the border world of Deadwood had fried a few circuits. She patched them up with tinfoil and glue, so the connections were live, but they were now catching fire every time the ships frankenstiened VTOL thrusters were over worked. And re-entry meant they would be working hard. So Xiao stood at the ready with her fire extinguisher in hand.

"I'm sorry about this girl," Xiao was apologizing to the spaceship, "when we touch down I'll be able to get you some new circuit boards and this won't keep happening. Hopefully I'll be able to get you a new cataly-"

Xiao was cut off mid sentence when the circuits erupted into flame. Xiao jumped and pulled the handle on the extinguisher. The room quickly filled with smoke and suppressant, and Xiao was left coughing.

* * *

(INTRO MUSIC)

* * *

In a bustling tradeport called "the eavesdown docks" a heavily modified Cl-54 made a jittery landing, touching down at the end of a line of other ships. Each ship had its' own reason for being here. Some were here simply to pick up passengers as part of their transportation route; others just needed to refuel before leaving for their next destination. Some of them would stick around for a day or two to do some trading. The Cl-54 known as "Avandra" was here to do all of those things and quickly.

Inside Avandra, the crew was gathering in the cargo hold. Thomas had just finished sending a wave to the men who would be coming to pick up the timber Avandra was transporting. They'd be here soon with forklifts and trucks; and hopefully the right amount of cash. Jessie would be here to greet them and beat them if it came to it, and Xiao was prepping the mule so she and the Captain could head into town, pick up food and supplies, and then head right back to the Docks.

Captain Thomas hopped onto the trailer hitched to the already running mule, as Jessie pounded the control switch for the cargo bay doors.

Avandra's doors spread open and the landing ramp slid out to push its way into the dirt. The smell of fresh air and seared dog rushed into the ship.

Xiao drove the mule slowly out into the world as the captain waved at Jessie. The mule, with its occupants drove down the dusty pedestrian filled road and out of sight.

Jessie adjusted his holster and pulled a sign out from behind one of the large stacks of timber. The sign read in American and Chinese, " Cl-54 MSCL –Avandra- Bound for Whitesun/Ariel"

Jessie knew he wouldn't have to work at flagging down passengers. People were already headed in his direction when he pulled out a cigarette and lit it. Ariel was a core planet- rich and fancible. Besides the normal core-world comforts, Ariel was also home to some of the best medical facilities in the Verse. People, mostly sick people, would be lining up to book passage. His concern would be making sure they could pay and making sure that the men who came to pick up the timber would pay. That's why he pulled his Desert Eagle and ejected the clip. He knew it was cleaned, loaded and ready – he'd seen to that yesterday. He was putting on the tough guy routine. Jessie'd found that, if you were big enough, and flashed a big enough piece of steel, people would give you your space and you'd likely never have to fire the gun anyway. It worked too. Some of the folks that had been headed straight for him slowed their pace and pretended to look around at the other ships.

They'd hang around till the last minute, and Xiao would likely convince the captain to take some of 'em on at a lower fare.

Jessie took a drag from his cigarette as he holstered his gun. Now he just had to wait.

* * *

In town, Xiao and Thomas were pulling up to the trade sector. Here, Captain Thomas Wu would hop off and shop around for Protien bars and Bandage-foam. He'd also unload some of the vegetable he'd grown in the converted 3rd story of his ship.

Xiao would leave him to that while she headed to the Junkyards to scavenge for parts. She wouldn't find everything she needed there though, and she had decided already that she would go to an actual shop to buy the new circuit board she needed. She had no intention on skimping when it came to certain parts for Avandra.

The entirety of the crews work was done in two hours. Xiao picked up the parts she needed and found the captain waiting for her back in town. He had two totes, full of food and other provisions. When Xiao pulled up he loaded the totes onto the trailer, next to the ship parts that she had purchased or scavenged.

Thomas hopped on top of his totes and asked Xiao if she found everything she needed.

"Everything but a working catalyzer." She replied, "you didn't give me enough funds for one of those new, and none of the shops had used ones."

"Well we'll pick one up on Ariel," the captain replied, "if we have time."

"Well we better," Xiao said as she drove down the dusty road back toward the docks, "I don't know how much longer ours is gonna last, and I don't like the idea of it breaking down and blowing up."

"We'll get one, Xiao." Thomas replied wearily, "We just need to be quiet about it, remember that."

Thomas wasn't particularly happy about going to a core planet, but he had a contact there who could get him all the medical supplies he needed to restock the almost empty med bay. It was always risky though, operating on a core planet.

Core planets are federally run and have excessive security measures. There were usually some areas that had less infrastructure- blackout zones- but the abundance of federal soldiers meant you could still get pinched by a patrol crew if you were in the wrong place at the wrong time.

The jobs Thomas took meant he needed the medical supplies on hand though, and the already dwindling supplies would be near gone after they inoculated and immunized the passengers they'd be taking on here in Persephone.

* * *

When Xiao pulled up to Avandra she had to work her way around the last of the trucks taking away the timber they'd brought.

Jessie was standing off to the side of the landing ramp counting the money that he'd collected for the timber, a line of hopeful travelers standing next to him.

Xiao drove the mule up the ramp as the Captain hopped off and made his way toward Jessie.

"We get paid?" Thomas asked his first-mate.

"Yessir," Jessie replied as he stuffed the money he was counting into an old leather envelope.

"In full?" Thomas asked with unbelief, as he took the envelope and counted its contents.

"Yes sir." Jessie replied, slapping the gun on his hip. "Didn't even have to haggle with 'em."

"Well great." the Captain stated as he looked over the people lined up to book passage. "Go help Xiao stow away the supplies, and I'll meet you two in the bridge."

Jessie tossed the cig he was smoking and threw the rest of his pack into the crowd of likely passengers. Jessie only smoked planet-side, and this was almost a tradition for him.

Thomas shook his head as Jessie walked off and the crowd of potential fare split the cigs among themselves.

Today was going well and Thomas was in a good mood. Xiao wouldn't even need to convince him to take on the poorer customers. Thomas was gonna take full fare from who he could, pretend to turn the others away, then deal with the less fortunate afterwards. He'd be able to pull favors and contacts from them that couldn't pay cash.

It was the way they shared the cigs that clinched it for Thomas. It was comforting to see people acting like people, even with all the panic and fear that was spreading through the Verse. It brought his hopes up. And that worried Thomas.

* * *

The trip to Ariel was uneventful. They'd left Persephone near a week ago. The Captain had gotten the ship fully fueled, full of passengers, and was able to pay his crew something decent with the revenues.

Jessie, put aside some cash for his family on Aberdeen. The rest would likely go towards his ever-expanding arsenal of sometimes-illegal weaponry. At this point he'd spent over 800 credits on the guns alone. He had three different old-world pistols, two mid-range rifles, a sniper rifle he'd picked up extra cheap, and one new-tech pistol that was easily concealable. Then there were the knives and grenades. Jessie was never short on weaponry. His life had been filled with firefights and he knew the value of a readily accessible weapon.

Xiao, after inoculating the eight passengers the captain had taken on, was able to replace the Avandras circuit boards, but not until they caught fire one last time- leaving atmo. Still, it was nice having her run so smooth, and this had Xiao in high spirits. And when Xiao was in high spirits, everyone was. It was contagious. The girl was diseased with joy and nobody had an immune system strong enough to fight it.

Xiaos week was filled with stories from the passengers they'd taken on. Eight in total. Three of em were related- a mother, father, and their sick boy. One was a Buddhist monk, and the other four were just folk hoping to find work on the Alliance funded planet of Ariel.

The Captain spent his days on the bridge or in the green house. If he ever ventured away from those areas it was only for a few minutes to grab some food.

Most of the passengers were able to receive a bunk in the passenger deck. Most of the customers were able to pay full fare. The monk and two of those that were hoping for work on Ariel were short on funds though. Thomas let them on board anyway, taking the promise of favors as their payment. Thomas had lots of favors waitin' on him throughout the Verse. He'd almost never collected on em though. Not yet anyway.

* * *

After a week of travel through the black of space, Avandra touched down on Ariel – releasing eight new people into the world. They'd thanked and waved farewell to Avandras crew, and were headed toward the main Port hub to become registered citizens of Ariel. Hopefully.

Thomas looked out at the shining sterile skyscrapers that formed this vast industrial metropolis. It upset him more than a little bit that some of the funding for this city came from the taxes collected on some of the most desolate border moons.

"We're all citizens of the Alliance, even if we don't want to be." Thomas mused.

Xiao walked up behind Thomas and wrapped her arms around his waist. "C'mon Captain," she implored, "Don't go getting yourself so down. We got crime to do."

Xiao was right. Thomas needed to wave his contact and set up a meet. They'd be parked here on Ariel for atleast twelve hours and he needed to make sure it didn't turn into a permanent stay. Stealing meds from a core planet would land him and his crew in a _jung chi duh go-se dway_ of trouble. That's something none of them wanted, so they needed to make sure the deal went down without a hitch.

Thomas trusted his contact for the most part. He'd never turned on him before, but dealing with a smuggler – even one you knew pretty well - was inherently risky. After all, if your contact is willing to steal from and lie to one person, what's to stop them from doing it to anyone else?

But meds cost too much these days. Thomas had to get them cheaper, if he wanted to make sure he had the cash needed to keep Avandra in the air.

Jessie was busy prepping the shuttle while Thomas was in his quarters, waving the contact. Thomas was going to take public transport to the edge of the blackout zone, lay low in a bar till nightfall, then head out on foot to make the deal. Jessie'd be there with him, and Xiao would be standing by in the shuttle to pick them up, as soon as the deal was made. In and out – that's the way it's supposed to go.

* * *

Xiao and Thomas both came into the Shuttle as Jessie was finishing the prep work.

"We got coordinates Cap'n?" Jessie asked as he pulled up a grid map of the blackout zone.

"Right here." Thomas answered as he leaned over Jessies shoulder and tapped the screen, finishing the work for him.

Both Thomas and Jessie turned to Xiao. She smiled and said, "Shiny. I'll head into town for the catalyzer, then right back here till I get your call."

Thomas looked to his crew and started out the shuttle, with Jessie following behind him.

* * *

In a part of Ariel most people stayed away from was a dingy motel called "The Tigers Buxom". It sounded better in Chinese.

With forty rooms and four stories, it was the nicest building in ten miles, because it was the only building in ten miles with a direct powerline. The other buildings in this sector made due with solar power, which was almost useless because of the thick smog of the industrial district. In this part of town everyone carried a knife, and there were no cats or dogs. People were soot-covered, gaunt, and dressed in veritable rags.

So the red-haired woman in the clean pressed nurses uniform was a very odd sight. She stood out like a _jien huo_ in parliament, as she made her way into the neon lit motel.

With her was a small person wearing a shroud. Either a midget or a child, it was clear that the woman was trying to keep the cloaked figure hidden.

Her name was Stacy Wen and she worked as an Alliance trauma surgeon. She had worked as an Alliance trauma surgeon. She hadn't shown up to work for a month now. Bulletins had begun to crop up on the cortex declaring her a missing person. Her parents- well off Alliance citizens – were worried about her.

But none of that mattered anymore. Not to her. Not since she found him. Or more appropriately, since they found her.

* * *

She was on duty a month ago when a call was received concerning several stabbings in one of the blackout sectors.

She arrived with her partner to the scene before the Federal officers. What they found was two dead men. Two dead armed men - and three children.

Two of the children were hiding behind the other. He was covered in blood and seemed to be guarding the others. Stacy wanted to help these children. It wasn't just her job. It was her way.

But the children fled as soon as they heard the sirens of police cruisers. Stacy went to chase after them. Her partner said no.

She didn't listen.

Stacy had followed the boy's trail all night. Finding small smatterings of blood that kept her on his track. Her partner had chased after her at first, but stopped soon after. Most people don't just run recklessly into a blackout zone.

Stacy lost track of the boy at some point- hours into the chase. She was going to admit defeat and head back when she realized she had no clue where she was.

She didn't know where she was, but a group of back alley thieves knew exactly where she was. They had followed her for a while, watching her take wild turns down alleys without thinking twice. They followed her because she looked healthy, and healthy organs sell for quite a bit on the black market. Or maybe they'd just sell her whole as a slave.

Stacy would never have to find out.

When the thugs had approached her – weapons drawn and sneers on their faces – Stacy was terrified. Her red hair disheveled and her green eyes wide with fear, she tried to run but only managed to get herself cornered in a dead end. With no escape in sight, and a dreadful future on the horizon, she prayed.

Her prayers were answered in the form of a silver haired boy covered in blood.

He came from the shadows and disarmed one of the men with ease, slitting the thugs throat with his own knife.

He was so small. How could these life long deviants have known that they should fear him?

They rushed the boy all together. And all together they died.

He had moved with precision and grace. Weaving in and out of wildly swinging arms – knives in hand.

When it was over three more men lay dead before him.

His name was Duncan LeRoy.

* * *

Stacy learned that the boy – Duncan- and the other two children – Anne and Jackie – had escaped from some sort of training camp. The three children related to Stacey horrible stories of medical testing and vicious combat training. Stacey didn't want to believe it at first, but it all made sense to her. She'd heard the stories. Most people had, ever since Miranda. Alliance trained operatives, conditioned to be ruthless killing machines carrying out the will of Alliance Parliament. Most people shrugged it off as paranoia caused by the Miranda broadcast. The Alliance was still denying the broadcast, calling it a Brown-coat generated hoax. And most of the core world's citizens were happy to believe their benefactors.

But here, Stacy was presented with undeniable proof of Alliance atrocities.

She stayed with the children. Helped them as much as she could. She emptied her credit account and tossed her card. She used the hard currency to purchase a room at Laohu Titai Fengman – the only building in the district with power. There she could still log into the cortex under a friends account. She worked tirelessly to find ways off world. She had to be careful though. She sent the children off on ships one at a time. Duncan insisted that she help the others first. He explained that they had seen the least time in the program before their escape. That they didn't space out the way he did. And over the month that she was at that rundown motel, she saw that it was true. Sometimes Duncan's face would go blank and he would utter nonsense. It scared the others, because they knew that that was going to be them.

Duncan never could explain how they escaped. Either he really didn't remember or he was suppressing the knowledge. The others simply didn't talk about it.

Now, after a month of work, she had been able to get the Anne and Jackie smuggled off world on separate ships run by Old Brown-Coats.

There was only her and Duncan left, but Stacy was out of cash. She couldn't pay another ship captain to smuggle the child so she knew she'd have to help him stow away on a ship. But which ship.

Stacey rifled through the cortex inbound ships directory, searching for a ship that seemed…disreputable - The disreputable ones were almost always flown by old resistance, but they didn't often come to the core worlds. Too much prejudice.

"I think I found one." Stacey exclaimed as Duncan finished packing their belongings – one suitcase and a med bag.

"We need to leave now," she continued, "They docked earlier today and there's no telling how long they'll stick around. I doubt they're here on vacation."

Duncan came over and looked at the listing over Stacey's shoulder. "Avandra," he said out loud, "Captain Thomas Wu…Ok, let's go."

* * *

Night had just fallen. Thomas and Jessie were leaving a dingy little bar and quietly making their way into the blackout zone, keeping their eyes open for police and tails.

They made it to the rendezvous without incident and checked their weapons. Their contact wasn't there yet, and it never hurt to be prepared.

"When they get here," Thomas said aloud to Jessie as he holstered his old pistol, "I don't want you saying anything. Just stand there and look…big."

"Shiny, Cap'n." Jessie replied, pulling his pant up and tensing his…everything.

The contact pulled up in a small car. The suicide doors opened and a bag dropped to the ground. The car then pulled up and the man inside poked his arm out from the shadowed interior. Thomas slapped an envelope thick with cash into the hand and the car pulled off. The contact never said a word or even stepped out of the car.

Thomas grabbed the bag as the car disappeared into the shadowed streets.

"Look big, huh?" Jessie scoffed.

"_Bizui_," the Captain retorted, "Call Xiao."

The deal had gone off without a hitch. Xiao flew the shuttle in around the outskirts of the city, grabbed the Cap and Jessie, and they were back on Avandra in no time of consequence.

"Jessie," Thomas shouted as he hurried to the bridge, "get those meds stowed away while I get us prepped for launch. I wanna get this planet behind us as fast as possible."

"Aye aye." Jessie said as he hurried off with the bag.

Avandra broke atmo a few minutes later. In the Black of space, Thomas believed he was free and clear of any trouble. He plotted a course for Deadwood, where he would pick up Petaline and her girls.

Malcolm Reynolds had sent him a wave saying they were looking for a ship. The wave wasn't to him in particular. Mal had sent the same message to a few different transport ships. Thomas was the only one who responded.

People were wary of working with Captain Reynolds, ever since most of his contacts mysteriously wound up with bullets in em.

But Thomas liked Mal, and he had exactly what Petaline and her girls needed – A ship. Not Avandra, but rather a derelict firefly. It was missing an engine and its wings, but Mal said Petaline had plenty of money to fix her up. It would take Avandra two weeks to reach Deadwood, a day or so to pack up the girls, then another week to get to Hera, where Thomas left the old Firefly he purchased solely for parts. Thomas and the crew would have about a months worth of ship-work to do, getting the ship flight-capable again. Then it would be all Petaline and her girls. They had plans of fixin her up as a traveling whorehouse. Maybe the first of its kind in the Verse. They even had a name picked out already – The Ship of Gold.

* * *

As Avandras Trace Compression Block Engine Primed for Hard Burn, Thomas put in the final adjustments for their flight-path.

The engine glowed green against the backdrop of space for a few seconds as a controlled thermo-nuclear explosion sent the ship hurtling into the black expanse.

But within her hold was a cargo none of the crew knew of. A cargo that was precious to the Alliance. A cargo that destined the crew for trouble.

* * *

(OUTRO)


	3. Secure channel 599905recording

Syringes and Stowaways Intermission

In a secure alliance facility run by the mega corporation Bluesun, two men have a discussion in a dark room….

Operative: We can't waste anymore time. We have to hunt down and destroy every last one of those abominations.

Shadowed Man: You realize those abominations were destined to force you into retirement…

Operative: That plan failed. Now I have more work than ever.

Shadowed Man: …Tam somehow turned our last operative. Didn't kill him… made him change his loyalty. How can we be certain that won't happen again…to you?

Operative: Because I don't want to retire.


	4. Syringes and Stowaways Pt2

Syringes and Stowaways Pt.2

Thomas was sleeping at the helm. He spent more time on the bridge of AVANDRA than anywhere else on the ship. His own room on the vessel was more like his closet. The "hotbunk", where the on duty pilot could go to catch some winks, was located near enough that he could sleep in there and still hear any alarms that might go off on the bridge. It even had hard-wire connections to a lot of the equipment at the helm. But Thomas still slept at the wheel. He was more comfortable there.

He'd spent so many years at the helms of so many different ships. It was just home to him.

He hated that thought, the idea that piloting was his life. Like most everyone, he yearned for more…or less.

He'd like to settle down and run a farm, sure, but something at the pilots seat always called to him.

"Why can't I just make a choice?"

Xiao crept onto the bridge to find Captain Wu asleep at the helm, mumbling in his sleep.

Xiao was always curious about this. "What's he dreaming about?" she would ask herself.

She knew better than to pry though. Thomas was a pretty closed off guy. Jessie had told her once that the Captain used to be Alliance. That he was drafted then turned. Jessie also said that that should be all we need to know. Xiao was still curious though.

"Captain?" Xiao said, now standing right beside Thomas.

Thomas woke with a start. He looked up to see Xiao, grease smeared on her face.

"There something wrong with the engine?" Thomas asked as he rubbed his eyes and looked at their plotted course. They were still on target and schedule.

Xiao stepped up to the forward windows.

"Captain, it's cold outside." Xiao said as she looked out into the starry canvas.

Thomas was perplexed. Why was Xiao acting like a bad horror film?

"Okay," Thomas replied as he stood up and stretched, "_mei-mei_, that's a strange comment."

Xiao turned to face the Captain. "I'm just reminding you that it's cold out there and that it would be really cruel to throw someone out the airlock."

Thomas didn't know if he should laugh or be worried. "Why would I throw anyone out the airlock? Has Jessie been bugging you again?"

Xiao looked at the ground. Captain Thomas had never seen Xiao act like this. Despite her past she was always a very optimistic person. So why was she being so serious?

"Okay," Thomas began "_mei-mei_, what's going on?"

Xiao walked over to block the door leading out of the bridge, then answered.

"Sir, we have stowaways."

(INTRO MUSIC)

"Sir, we have stowaways."

It took Thomas a few moments for everything to register. He had just been woken up by his engineer, who was acting very odd. They had just left Ariel two days ago. They were on their way to Deadwood to pick up the girls at the Heart of Gold. They picked up stowaways on Ariel…

"We picked up stowaways on Ariel?" The Captain asked, bewildered.

Xiao replied "Yes. Two."

The expression on Thomas' face quickly went from confused to livid.

"WE PICKED UP…GORRAMIT!"

Thomas pulled his pistol and made to push past Xiao, but she didn't move.

"Cap," Xiao began "please try to remember how I got here."

Thomas was pissed. He knew what Xiao was getting at. She had stowed away on AVANDRA all those years ago. Now she was crew.

"Xiao," Thomas started "how long have you known we had guests?"

Xiao looked at the pistol still clutched in Thomas' hand. Thomas saw. He stepped back and holstered his gun. He loved Xiao, like a sister. He didn't want her thinking he was mad at her.

"I'm sorry Xiao," Thomas said, "I just don't like surprises. So how long?"

Xiao stepped away from the door so Thomas could leave now if he wanted.

"I found em in the engine nook a few hours after we left," Xiao explained, "a woman doctor and a boy. I shuffled them off to my room and they've been there since. They're definitely scared. And they definitely don't want to hurt us."

Thomas forced himself to remain calm.

"Mei-mei," he began, "There are two strangers on my boat. Strangers from Ariel, a highly federalized Alliance Core World. You say they're harmless, and I'm telling you they could be anyone. They could be…" Alliance operatives for all we know.

"Captain one's just a kid…" Xiao tried to interrupt.

"THEY COUld be lyin," Thomas continued, "They could be Alliance operatives for all we know."

"Why would an operative stow away on Avandra?" Xiao queried.

Thomas didn't answer. He just turned away and started marching toward the cabin deck.

Jessie, the blond-haired first mate, was making a protein sandwich when he heard Captain Wu stomping down the halls. When Jessie saw the angry Captain being followed by a worried Xiao, he knew something interesting was happening. And, in space, interesting usually meant dangerous.

Jessie took a bite of his sandwich and trailed along behind the two. They were headed for the rear dorms. Maybe Xiao's room?

"What's up, _mei-mei_?" Jessie asked Xiao as they all kept walking.

Xiao turned to face Jessie.

"WOULD YOU TWO STOP TREATING ME LIKE A LITTLE GIRL FOR ONE DAY!?" She screamed.

Jessie, mouth still full of bread and protein, looked shocked. He thought about turning around and finishing his sandwich in peace.

"Jessie," Thomas began, as he stood in front of Xiao's room, hand on the door "did you know we had guests?"

Jessie knew he wasn't going back to the kitchen now.

"We have what?" Jessie replied as he stepped past a fuming engineer.

"Yeah," Thomas continued, "behind this door, Xiao tells me, we have a doctor lady and a kid."

Jessie took another bite of his sandwich then pulled his pistol with his free hand.

"So…" Jessie started with his mouth full, "we gonna open that door?"

They had not been careful or lucky enough. Stacey and Duncan had stowed away on this ship and, thanks to Duncan's odd prescience, were able to quickly find a hidden hold in the engine bay. But the girl on board, Xiao, somehow knew they were there.

When they realized they'd been caught, Stacey and Duncan feared they'd be shot on-sight. Smuggler ships and their crews never had good reputations.

So, when Xiao told them to stay in her room, they were completely surprised.

Now, almost two days after being discovered, they were scared again. They could hear the drawing of footsteps, and now the ships crew was outside their door, arguing.

Duncan - a teenaged boy with silver hair - wanted to hide again. He searched for somewhere to hide himself, but knew that this room had no secret compartments.

He looked to Stacey.

Stacey, a beautiful redhead, was standing right in front of the door. She had no clue what waited on the other side. She turned to Duncan and held out her hand. She didn't have to say anything to Duncan. He knew she would do anything to protect him – had already done so much.

If she could face this frightening situation with poise, then Duncan would too.

The door slid open and Stacey found herself staring down the barrel of a Desert Eagle. A handsome blonde who was still chewing on something held the gun. A sandwich in his other hand told Stacey that this man was not out to murder them. Rather, she figured, that this crew must be just as worried as she and Duncan were.

Jessie tilted his head to the Captain and asked, "So…do I shoot em?"

Xiao burst past everyone yelling, "They're not armed you dolts. One of em's just a kid."

Xiao stood beside the unwanted guests, hoping to shelter them from the Captains' imminent wrath.

Thomas finally stepped into the room. He looked at the two stowaways, then pulled his gun.

Stacy winced.

"I don't want to hurt no one," Thomas said as motioned with his pistol for everyone to leave the room, "but you're not supposed to be here."

Stacey, with her arms around Duncan, stepped out of the room. Jessie led them down to the kitchen area where they would all have a long talk.

Stacey explained her story as Xiao made some food for everyone. Xiao always believed food just made people happier…or, at least, less angry.

Stacey told them about her encounter with Duncan and the other children, how Duncan saved her life. She told Thomas that she'd left her life behind to protect this boy and the others that had fled some maniacal experiment.

Stacey finished her story as Xiao set down a bowl of protein mush.

"Y'see, Captain," Xiao started "they aren't a threat."

Thomas didn't even look at Xiao. He was pissed and simply replied, "You'd better hope so. Jessie?"

Jessie was admiring Stacey, and didn't look away from her when he acknowledged the Captain. "Sir?"

"Jessie," Thomas continued, "get to the bridge. Check the cortex to see if we've been flagged and then make sure we're not being followed. Look for Alliance cruisers on an intercept course."

Jessie left to do all that, leaving an angry Captain in the kitchen with the others.

"You'd better hope," Thomas began, "that you weren't seen stowing away on my ship. Because if you were, and the Alliance is onto us right now, I will be turning you in to them without question."

"Captain that's…" Xiao tried to interrupt.

"_Bizui_, Xiao." Thomas replied. He'd never told Xiao to shutup. Ever.

"If we aren't being followed," Thomas continued, "You'll be confined to Xiaos' quarters until we reach our destination, and then you'll be left there."

Xiao wanted to yell at Thomas. He had to understand that these two would be destroyed on Deadwood, that they wouldn't survive that harsh border moon. But, she'd already messed up. She should have never told Thomas about Stacey and Duncan. And now, if these two were lucky, they'd die on a desert moon. And, if they were unlucky, they'd all be looking forward to Alliance federals boarding their ship and taking prisoners.

Jessie finally returned from the bridge.

"Well?" Thomas asked.

"We're clean," Jessie replied "I guess these two are pretty good at being sneaky."

"Jessie, take these stowaways to Xiaos quarters." Thomas said with finality as he made his way to the bridge.

Jessie looked at the two "guests".

"You heard the man," he said as he ushered them out of the kitchen, "I guess you two get to live long enough to die on Deadwood."

Xiao followed them with another bowl of food. She was disgusted by this whole situation. Disgusted with her lapse in judgment. She thought she had been helping.

"Jessie, do you think the captain's really gonna leave em there?" Xiao asked.

"Probably," Jessie replied as he opened the door to Xiaos quarters, letting the others inside. "But they got one chance for survival, the way I see it."

Xiao, Stacey, and Duncan all sat down on Xiaos' seldom used bed, as Jessie stayed in the door way.

"What do you mean?" Stacey asked.

"Well," Jessie replied "I guess you actually have two options here. One way, you somehow convince the Captain that you'd be useful to him…and you're not gonna do that by talking to him so don't try. The other way…" Jessie trailed off.

Jessie didn't really want to explain to this beautiful lady that she might have to turn to whoring to survive. He was a gentleman like that. But, they needed to know.

"The other way," Jessie continued, "is part of the job we're doing. I'm thinkin' I should let Xiao explain that part to you."

Stacey turned to Xiao, who was now crying for her mistakes.

Jessie closed the door after reminding Xiao to come to the bridge soon. Jessie didn't like seeing Xiao cry. She was everyone's little sister- _Xiao mei-mei_.

Jessie stepped into the bridge and found Thomas staring out into the black.

"You think Petaline'll take the girl." Jessie asked without introduction.

"Not if tell Petaline it's a bad idea." Thomas replied.

"Well that's kinda harsh." Jessie said as he sat down in the pilots chair.

"Life is harsh." Thomas replied.

Jessie and Thomas sat in silence for a bit.

"Y'know," Jessie began, breaking the silence "she is a doctor. Petaline could really use a doctor."

Thomas saw the play behind Jessie's words. He saw the widening of Jessie's eyes as he looked at Stacey. Maybe Jessie wasn't even sure what he was really getting at, but Thomas saw the options.

If Thomas told Petaline not to take Stacey, Jessie would tell her that Stacey was a doctor. Petaline would then ignore Thomas and take Stacey. But, Petaline wouldn't understand the risk she'd be taking on with that girl and her silver haired companion.

Thomas thought about all the alternatives. What if this, what if that…

"This is gonna be a bad month."

(OUTRO)


	5. Approaching Doom

So I recently started a New Job and won't be bringing these (or my other two stories) out as quickly as I'd like. Rest assured I'm not just making this up as I go along. I'm not going to run into extreme cases of writers block because I've got my trusty notebook with it's already planned Story Arcs. So I'll probably be able to put out a chapter a week. Admittedly some of the Chapters will be two parters (like this one). Any way, thank you to my one reviewer. For you I'm going to state that "The Ship of Gold" story arc is actually derived from a Firefly Radioplay I heard some months back. You can check it out on "Tales From the Verse" - a syndicated podcast.

Keep Flying.

* * *

Episode 003 part 1 - Approaching Doom

* * *

It would still be another two days before Avandra came into Deadwoods orbit. Ever since the revelation of Stacey and Duncan's' presence on the ship, Thomas had been very surly.

It was pretty normal for the Captain to stay on the bridge for lengthy periods, but not entire days. He hadn't even gone to the third story greenhouse to tend to his plants. They were beginning to shrivel and die.

Xiao was staring at the browning plants, trying desperately to think up some way to make everyone happy. She was not being successful.

In the kitchen, Jessie was preparing some food. He'd taken a liking to Stacey. A very base and primal liking, but it was there. So he found himself doing things for the guests that he normally wouldn't do for anyone that wasn't crew. He would even play games with them at times. Now, Jessie was more of a poker player but he did remember a few games from his youth that were less adult oriented. So today he was going to play an old earth game he'd downloaded from the Cortex – Scrabble.

Stacey and Duncan were sitting on Xiaos bed researching Deadwood, the moon they'd be arriving at in a couple of days. It was a desert planet and life there was harsh. It had been run by a man named Rance Burgess - until he died about a year ago. His wife was now running the moon in his stead, and doing a terrible job of it. Stacey thought to herself that maybe she could provide her medical expertise to cement a place on Deadwood.

Stacey brushed some loose red locks of hair away from her face and looked up from her reader, toward Duncan, who was standing in front of the door – just staring at it.

The silver haired boy was troubled. He'd been through so much. And now he was separated from the only family he really had – Anne and Jackie.

"Is something wrong, Duncan?" Stacey asked.

"We can't stay on Deadwood," he replied "Evelyn Burgess is an evil woman who would remand us into Alliance Federals as soon as she discovered there's a reward."

"I don't have any money left, Duncan" Stacey stated, "So we aren't going to be able to get on another ship leaving Deadwood unless we stow away again."

"We can't do that," Duncan said as he placed his hand on the door "We're too far out and that moon is too small. Someone would spot us trying to board their ships."

"And Captain Wu is not going to keep us on." Added Stacey.

"And the women he's picking up on that moon will be leaving with him – so our odds of finding a place with them is very slim."

The depression and hopelessness in the room was heavy. Jessie could almost feel it from outside the door as he listened in on the conversation.

Jessie was about to grab the door, when Duncan opened it from the other side.

"Hey," Jessie exclaimed, startled " umm… I brought a game and some food."

"There's no time," Duncan replied "you have a problem."

"Wha-" Jessie began, but was interrupted by the Captains voice booming over the shipwide intercom.

"All crew to the bridge."

Jessie stared at the boy, perplexed.

"I repeat, All crew to the Bridge."

Jessie shoved the bowl of flavored protein patties into Duncans arms and made his to the bridge.

* * *

When Jessie and Xiao reached the bridge Thomas was talking to someone on the call screen- a woman, by the sound of her voice.

"… So I don't think we have a lot of time." The woman finished.

"What's going on Cap?" Jessie asked as he and Xiao stepped up behind the Captain to see that it was Petaline – a young mother - on the call screen.

"We'll get there as fast as we can." Thomas said, finishing his conversation with Petaline and cutting off the Call.

"Xiao, I need you to get to the engine room and set us up for Hard Burn." Thomas said as he turned to face his crew. "We need to get to Deadwood as fast as possible. Widow Burgess is fixing to burn down the Heart of Gold."

* * *

(Intro Music)

* * *

Xiao turned and made her way out of the Bridge, leaving Thomas to talk to Jessie.

"Jessie," Thomas continued as he made his way out to the Hot Bunk located just outside the Bridge. "I need you to get the mule prepped. And grab your grenades."

"You think it's gonna be a fight like that?" Jessie replied as he leaned on a doorframe.

"I don't know," Thomas replied as he changed the clothes he'd been wearing for days "But I know we're going to be cutting it close enough as it is."

"What exactly is going on?" asked Jessie.

"Widow Burgess seems to have it in her head that Petaline is gonna use Jonah to usurp her lordship of that dustball moon." Thomas replied as he finished changing.

"Who's Jonah?" Jessie asked.

"Petaline's son, and the son of the late Rance Burgess." Thomas answered. "Now quit asking stupid questions and get to work."

Xiaos voice came up over the intercom "Captain, we're all set."

Thomas pushed his way past Jessie. "Get to work Jessie. It's gonna get bumpy in about an hour."

Jessie left to do his part as the Captain returned to the Pilots chair. He engaged the TCB, and a controlled thermonuclear explosion caused the ship to lurch as the vessel accelerated.

Pushing this hard toward Deadwood meant that they'd be coming into orbit way too fast. Thomas would have to spin the ship around as they approached, then fire the TCB again as part of their deceleration sequence. The opposing forces of inertia and thrust would threaten to crush the ship. Then they'd have to hope that they were moving slow enough to not fall apart as they hit the atmosphere.

"Why am I doing this?" Thomas wondered to himself.

He needed the work. This is what the Captain told himself. He needed Petaline alive so they could pay him and his crew to transport them to Hera. Petaline and her girls couldn't pay them anything if they were dead.

A voice came from just behind Thomas.

"A lot of those girls are going to die."

Thomas jumped up from his chair and swung out his arm, backhanding Duncan in the face.

Thomas stifled his knee-jerk reaction to help the young boy up. Duncan was a kid, and it was basic instinct to feel bad about hitting a kid, but Thomas knew that Duncan was more than just a kid.

"You're supposed to stay in Xiaos room," Thomas said flatly "Now I'm supposed to shoot you for disobeying order."

Duncan did not get up, nor did he wipe the blood from his lip. Instead, he laid there and replied "That would make you a hypocrite and would also doom Petaline."

Thomas pulled his pistol and aimed it at the boys head. "Go back to your room."

Duncan stood up and looked at the gun quizzically. In a flash the gun was in Duncan's hands and pointing at Thomas.

Thomas wasn't sure what just happened. His hand hurt and there was no gun in it. Thomas took a few steps back toward the pilot's chair.

"If you jerk the wheel," Duncan said as he began disassembling Thomas' pistol "We'll fly off course and the ship won't survive re-entry."

"What is it that you want, little man?" Thomas said in defeat.

Duncan began reassembling the pistol as he answered, "I want Petaline to live. I want you to recognize what's in front of you. But mostly…"

Duncan held out the pistol by the barrel, offering the grip to Thomas.

"I want to have a purpose beyond Alliance Kill Orders."

Thomas warily reached out for the pistol.

"You can trust me." Duncan said as he pushed the pistol the centimeters necessary for Thomas to fully grab it.

Thomas pulled the gun toward himself and slid it back into its holster.

"I don't think I can." Thomas replied.

Duncan turned to leave the bridge.

"You have to. Or good people are going to meet a bad end."

* * *

"JESSIE!?"

Thomas was making his way down to the cargo bay where Jessie was strapping guns to the Mule. Jessie was also going to set a large metal crate onto the trailer attached to the Mule.

"Almost ready." Jessie replied as he turned to see a very angry Thomas.

"What in the name of Shadow were you doing?" Thomas shouted.

"Prepping the mule?" Jessie replied defensively.

"You been getting too friendly with our stowaways." Thomas yelled.

"What?" Jessie replied. He knew it was true, but how else could he respond?

"That crazy kid waltzed right onto the bridge," Thomas continued "They've gotten too gorram comfortable."

"Well I don't see how that's my fault." Jessie lied.

"Scrabble!?" Thomas shouted "You've been playing games with em like they're crew. Well they ain't crew. They are unwanted Stowaways."

"You're the only one who doesn't want 'em." Jessie said as he finished hooking the trailer to the Mule.

"Because I'm the only one who seems to understand the kind of trouble an Alliance trained murder machine can bring." Thomas railed.

"If Duncan is so dangerous, then why hasn't he killed us yet?" Jessie asked as he made his way to the metal crate he would be craning onto the mules' trolley.

Thomas pretended to check the mule. He knew Jessie was loading it out just fine, but he couldn't answer Jessie's question and they both knew it.

Was he being paranoid?

No. Duncan was being trained to become an operative.

* * *

Days ago, when Thomas found out about Stacey and Duncan, Thomas waved Malcolm Reynolds and they had a long talk about River Tam. Thomas learned the kind of crazy trouble that a mentally traumatized kid could be. Mal had divulged startling details that, even Mal admitted, he would never tell anyone else. The only reason he confided in Thomas was because Thomas was dealing with the exact same problem.

"Child like that," Mal had said, "It's a curse and blessing. River caused no end of trouble and we're still runnin pretty hard to this day. But at some point she somehow turned into family. Now I ain't saying that's gonna happen with your situation. But you have to ask yourself – Did this kid really do anything wrong? And what kind of person would I be to just toss em aside?"

Thomas was back on the bridge, watching as Deadwood drew closer. He tried to raise Petaline on the Cortex, but no one was answering. He hoped the girls were just busy packing and fortifying. They had been through this situation before and probably understood that they had to help themselves before anyone else would be able to.

Thomas began the unorthodox deceleration and entry sequence.

In the black of Space, with a yellowed desert planet approaching quickly, Avandra spun around so that her engines faced the planet. Her Trace Compression Block Engine spun to life and a vibrant explosion tried to push her away from the approaching rock. Avandras current inertia wasn't completely overcome, so her Secondary thrusters – VTOL thrusters pulled from an old Firefly '03 – fired up to aid in the deceleration.

* * *

Within Avandra, Jessie was moving quickly to prepare for a firefight.

Xiao was back in her quarters apologizing as Stacey applied ointment to Duncan's lip.

"It'll be okay." Duncan said.

Stacey wanted to believe Duncan, but neither she nor Xiao could see how things would be "okay".

Even if no one died in the coming fight, Thomas had shown that he was not going to keep these two. They would end up stuck on a planet that would want them killed for having been brought by the crew that foiled their plans of revenge. And that was the best-case scenario.

The intercom clicked and Thomas' voice spread throughout the ship.

"I need everyone to the bridge. I repeat, EVERYONE to the bridge."

Xiao looked to Stacey who was looking at Duncan.

Duncan was smiling.

"Things are changing."

* * *

On the planet Below, Petaline had just received word that Burgess had hired a high-end female mercenary. Burgess and her hired guns would be at their doorstep in under an hour. The girls at the Heart of Gold knew that Thomas wasn't going to reach them in time. They would have to defend themselves from this threat until he arrived.

Petaline walked into Nandis old room. No one wanted to use it - Too many bad memories. But this is where they kept all the guns they had scavenged when Rance came to take Jonah.

Even Rances Laser.

Petaline picked up the clunky New-Tech Laser Pistol. They'd used Solar Power to recharge its Battery. She looked out the second story window and could see a trail of dust miles across the plain. They were using horses, because Rance Burgess had been too dead to demand the return of his hovercraft.

One of Petalines girls knocked on the doorframe.

Petaline turned and the girl said " We've got all the doors blocked off downstairs and we're bringing up the planks for the windows now."

"They're already on their way here." Petaline said, pointing out the window to the dust in the distance.

"What are we gonna do, Petaline?" The girl asked "Thomas and his crew ain't gonna get here in time."

Petaline flipped the on switch for the active return bolt laser with auto adjusting sights.

It hummed to life, and Petaline replied, "We're gonna burn that _chang-fu_ alive."

* * *

(Outro)


	6. Approaching Doom Pt2

Avandra

* * *

Approaching Doom Part 2

* * *

Everyone was gathered on the bridge. Thomas was sitting in the pilots seat, preparing for the hard reentry. Jessie and Xiao stood behind him, eyeing the monitors as Stacey and Duncan stood in the doorway.

Stacy spoke out first, asking the Captain, "Why would you strike this child?"

Thomas ignored her as he began speaking to his crew. "Petaline still isn't answering our wave," he began "so I'm guessing they're already dealing with Burgess' thugs."

"So we don't have a lot of time to work here?" Jessie asked.

"That's right." Thomas replied, "So everyone needs to be ready to do their part."

Stacey wanted to protest but Duncan stopped her with a tug on her arm.

"Jessie," Thomas continued, "I want you and our guests in the shuttle. You'll do low fly bys on Burgess' crew. Scare em a bit."

"In the Shuttle?" Jessie said, "What if we get shot down?"

"Luckily" Thomas replied, "you'll have a medic with you."

Jessie toyed with the thought of getting hurt on purpose.

"Xiao," Thomas continued as the moon began to dominate the forward view "you and I will touch down behind the house and try to herd the girls into the Cargo bay."

"Cap," Xiao began sheepishly "I'm not great with a gun."

"You won't have to be." Thomas replied, "I'll set the auto landing sequence and be with you before the doors even open. We'll toss smokes to cover our movement and I'll do all the shooting. You just have to drive the Mule up to the back door of the House."

* * *

In the midst of a hail of gunfire, Petaline was applying pressure to the shoulder of one of her boys. A handsome well built brunette named Jack.

In a central room of the house, surrounded by metal crates, Jonah was crying his lungs out. You could even hear him over the gunfire.

Another of Petaline's boys- a skinnier blonde fella named Robert - came over with some bio-foam. He pushed the nozzle into Jacks wounded shoulder and the injured man screamed. Then he passed out from the pain.

"His wounds closed up," Petaline shouted over the noise of bullets splintering wood "but it's not a good idea for him to stay unconscious like this. Go upstairs and get the adrenaline Simon had given us."

Roberts scurried toward the stairs, keeping his head as low as possible.

Petaline moved to a window and surveyed the situation. There were still ten or fifteen of them out there. Some of them were taking cover behind a truck they'd brought.

Petaline had a thought. She only had a little bit of charge in her Laser. The solar panels simply couldn't fill the battery the way it was meant to be filled. But it should be enough to do some real damage - If she could do this right.

Petaline popped out of cover and took aim at the front of the truck. She squeezed the trigger and a searing beam took shape. She dragged the laser from one side of the truck to the other, hoping.

She got what she was hoping for when the truck exploded, sending four or five guys flying in all directions. Two of them were still conscious while others laid either dead or passed out. But most of them were at least a little bit on fire.

Robert returned with a bag in his hand.

"Petaline, I've got the-"

A bullet ripped through his head and he hit the floor, dead in an instant.

* * *

About a hundred yards behind the truck that had exploded, a woman – covered by a tan cloak - worked the bolt on her sniper rifle, releasing the empty smoking shell. She slid another bullet into place and rolled to her right. Peering through her sight, she could see her targets panicking as they tried to survive.

"Like rabbits in a cage…"

* * *

Thomas was alone on the Bridge now. The steering column buckled in his hands as he tried to keep Avandra from crashing onto the desert moon. He hadn't had to work this hard to land since…

Since he fled an Alliance Cruiser.

Thomas shoved the thought aside as his ship finally began to steady.

* * *

In the Cargo bay, Xiao was getting the Mule started when she could feel that they'd safely made it into atmo. Things got sort of quiet and she could hear footsteps coming down the stairs behind her.

"Jessie," Xiao started "you're supposed to be in the shuttle."

She turned to see Duncan at the bottom of the metal stairs.

Xiao was shocked and added, "You're also supposed to be in the shuttle."

"I convinced Jessie I would be of more help here." Duncan explained as he made his way over to the mule.

"How'd you-" Xiao began to ask.

Duncan interrupted her. "It wasn't hard." He answered, "He does like Stacey after all."

"So what," Xiao said as she thought about reaching for a gun, "you told him he would get to be alone with her? That doesn't sound like enough to convince even Jessie."

"It wouldn't have been if I'd just said it like that." Duncan replied "No, I punched him in the face and he 'chased' me out."

"I don't think the Captain is gonna like this change in his plans." Xiao remarked.

"He won't know until it's too late." Duncan replied as he grabbed two smoke grenades from the Mule.

Xiao eyed the silver haired child

"I'm not sure _I_ like this change."

* * *

In the Shuttle Jessie pressed a button opening communications with the Bridge of Avandra.

"Cap, we're disengaging in 3, 2, - "

The shuttle locks slid out of place. The smallish vessel broke free of Avandra and extended its wings.

The smaller ship would make it to the Heart of Gold before Avandra. Jessie just hoped Duncan wouldn't cause the kind of trouble that would get him shot. Then Jessie rubbed his nose and thought, "maybe I want the kid to get shot."

* * *

When Jessie got within sight of the foil-covered house he could see that the fight was still raging. A group of about three or four men were trying to make their way around to the side of the house. Jessie flew in low, trying to startle the assailants.

"I'm betting they're not doing well in the house." Jessie stated as he swung the ship around to make another fly by.

"Can you land behind the house?" Stacey asked as she tied her red hair into a ponytail.

"Are you touched in the head?" Jessie asked as they were pelted with small caliber bullets "That's not the plan, and we're under fire."

"If those men make it inside then the plan failed right?" Stacey argued.

"Ok," Jessie relented as he flew low by a burning truck "so what's your idea?"

"There's a back door right?" Stacey asked as she checked the contents of her med bag.

"Yeah." Jessie replied.

"Land just long enough to escort me inside," Stacey said "then do what you think is best."

Jessie turned to look at her as he turned the shuttle around again.

"That is a crappy plan."

* * *

Jessie touched down mere yards from the back door. The shuttle door opened and Jessie peeked out. The thugs who were making there way to the back had come to the corner of the house and opened fire on the shuttle. He tossed a smoke grenade and waited a few seconds for the smoke to build.

When the firing died down Jessie and Stacey made their run. Jessie fired some random shots into the smoke as he and Stacey ran to the back door.

When they reached the back door Jessie began pounding on it, hoping no one would just shoot through the wooden planks.

"Open up." He shouted "It's Jessie."

The door swung open and a petite girl with Chinese features ushered them inside.

Stacey looked around and saw that they had pulled their injured to the back already.

She also saw the dead man on the ground. His face was gone. Stacey tried to remain stoic. Years as a trauma surgeon had gotten her used to gore, but it was still hard to stomach. She just learned to push it aside…for now.

Jessie was still by the backdoor, trying to shoot down the other gunmen through the smoke.

Now that Stacey was working on the injured, he decided it was time to get back to the original plan.

"You lock up this door behind me." Jessie shouted.

Jessie had to move now, before the smoke completely cleared. He fired a few random shots as he rushed back into the shuttle.

Safely back in the shuttle, Jessie fired up the engines and started to rise into the air.

There was a sudden explosion as a well-placed bullet hit one of the rear thrusters.

The shuttle uncontrollably lurched to one side and, unable to gain altitude, dropped to the ground.

Jessie was jostled a bit, but uninjured.

"Gorramit!" Jessie shouted "Thomas is gonna be pissed if we all live."

* * *

Camouflaged by her simple cloak, the sniper reloaded her rifle. She figured the shuttle was probably from a larger ship, and so she looked to the skies. Her assumptions were confirmed as she saw a CL-54 drawing closer.

"Well…" she said to herself "I don't think I'm getting paid today."

* * *

Thomas could see the whole mess as he drew closer to the Heart of Gold.

Why was the Shuttle behind the house and not in the air?

Now it was in the way and Thomas would have to manually land Avandra to be safe.

"Damnit, Jessie."

* * *

Thomas announced over the intercom that they were about to land.

Xiao was still worried about the idea of Duncan not being where the captain wanted him. Sure, she liked Duncan well enough, but she couldn't lie to herself and say she knew him, or what he would do. But they were too close to danger for her to be doubting her allies.

* * *

Avandra touched down beside the downed shuttle, raising dust with her thrusters. An instant after landing, her cargo bay doors were opening.

Two smoke grenades came out on either side of the landing ramp, while a third went flying out past the shuttle.

"You have a hell of an arm." Xiao commented as she looked at the small boy.

"Maximum energy transference can be obtained by-" Duncan stopped mid sentence to see Xiao eyeing him funny, "It's all in the wrist." Duncan finished as he looked to the ground.

Xiao felt sorry for the boy. He was so odd. She couldn't help being a little scared of him, but she didn't want him to feel like it was his fault.

"It was a great throw." She said, trying to make up for her earlier expression with a smile.

* * *

Jessie could see the smoke outside the shuttle and decided now was a good time to make his move back to the Heart of Gold. He rushed through the smoke, keeping his head low.

Jessie was pounding on the back door when Xiao pulled up through the smoke and stopped the Mule beside him.

Duncan showed up seconds later and began unloading guns from the Mule, passing them to Jessie and Xiao.

Stacey opened the door for them. Her hands were covered in blood.

Jessie, Xiao, and Duncan pushed their way inside handing out fresh guns.

"Shouldn't we be getting everyone to the ship?" Stacey asked.

"Shuttle crashed." Jessie replied tersely as he peeked out the front windows "We're not leaving till this is finished."

* * *

Thomas finally came down to the cargo bay and wanted to scream.

Everyone was gone. His plan had fallen apart in more ways than he knew. And he knew it, because there was no way Xiao was gonna drive through threat of gunfire without someone else with her.

"If I don't get shot by one of these thugs," He ecxclaimed to no one "I think I might just shoot a kid."

Thomas made his way through the smoke to the shuttle only to find it empty. He turned around and started making his way through the thinning smoke. Someone opened fire on him and Thomas leapt towards the House, firing into the air.

He didn't hit his mark, but with a quick roll he was in the back door of the Heart of Gold.

He looked around and saw that none of his people seemed injured. Thomas stuck his arm out the back door and fired off some blind shots in the general direction of his attackers.

"Jessie?" Thomas shouted "What the blazes is my shuttle doing parked back here?"

Jessie fired a few shots out the front and replied, "Maybe we can talk about that when we're not being shot at?"

Thomas noticed that the man outside wasn't shooting anymore. He took a peek outside and saw the man dead on the ground.

"Huh." he huh'd.

"Captain Wu," Petaline began "we're not seeing anymore out front. I know we didn't get em all so they must have made there way around to the sides.

It had gotten quiet. Everyones ears were ringing from the gunfire and no one could hear the men moving outside.

"Jessie get over here." Thomas ordered as he waved his arms toward his young friend.

Jessie moved to the other side of the back door and asked "You want to rush em Cap?"

Thomas shot Jessie an incredulous look and replied, "Are you stupid? No. We wait em out."

"They might be calling Burgess as we speak." Petaline added.

Thomas thought about the situation. How many more men could Burgess really have?

"No." Thomas said decidedly "We wait. We've got plenty of bullets and Avandra'll make-"

Bullets began to spray in from one side of the house, interrupting Thomas and forcing everyone to find new cover.

The automatic fire died down a little. It meant that some of them had to change clips. Thomas looked around to see that Jessie had taken a shot to the leg.

Thomas looked around some more. Something wasn't right but it took him a second to realize that someone was missing.

"Where's the kid?"

* * *

Through her sites, the sniper could see that the last three men Burgess had sent with her were firing recklessly into the side of the house. They were reloading when she spotted something strange.

On the second story, a silver haired boy was looking down on the gunmen. He turned and seemed to look directly at her.

The sniper pulled here eye away from the scope, somewhat unnerved.

"There's no way…"

She returned to her sight and what she saw had her downright scared.

* * *

The silver haired boy leapt from the second story, landing on the central gunman. He deftly snapped the mans neck and rolled out of the way as the other two shooters haphazardly riddled their dead partner with bullets.

The boy had somehow grabbed the fallen shooter's rifle as he rolled out of the way and, with two controlled bursts, the other men fell.

* * *

Everything was quiet now. The boy dropped the gun and began to walk to the back of the house. The sniper steadied her aim and was squeezing the trigger when the boy, again, seemed to look directly at her.

He was just at the corner of the house. Two steps and he would be out of sight.

He just stood there. Starting in her direction. No. He wasn't just looking in her general direction - He was looking right at her.

They sat there for what seemed like hours, just staring at one another over a distance of roughly four hundred yards.

The moment was broken when a bald headed man yanked the boy by his collar, out of sight.

* * *

The sniper lay there thinking. Then she began talking aloud – discussing the situation with herself.

"Okay, Susan" she began "Either way we're not getting paid. Burgess won't give me a single Plat for this foul up - even though I told her I should go alone. And if these folks see me stand up and start walking, I'm sure they'll chase me down and kill me. I could wait here and try to take them out one by one like I'd planned… but with that ship parked back there they'll be able to get to where I can't get a good shot. I could crawl to a better position… that'll take time if I don't want to get spotted…" Susan stopped and thought really hard about not being spotted.

"You've already been spotted." she finished.

* * *

Author- So that's the end of this chapter.

I want to say thank you to the folks who are reading, enjoying, and reviewing.

I wrote these next lines in my notebook last night while drunk. I had read your reviews and was watching the Firefly 10th anniversary Panel on youtube...

"This is me talking to YOU- the people who validate the years I've wasted daydreaming.

I hear you.

You want more details. You want to know where this is going. You want to know that there is something to this.

I can tell you that I will finish this, and that it will end on -.

But, and I'm paraphrasing others here,What most people don't see when they buy a book or watch a film is the four or five or ten stages of editing that occurs between 'Pen to Paper' and 'Final Draft'.

The worst thing a writer can do is stop writing.

It's evident to me that people who even know about this site are aspiring Writers.

To you I say 'JUST WRITE SOMETHING'. It won't be perfect. It's not supposed to be. You can fix it later. That's what editing is for. But the longer you wait, the more you'll doubt yourself. "

When I wrote this next bit, I was heavily annebriated...

"I watch Firefly almost Religiously (which is silly, because I'm an Atheist). I recently Leant my Firefly Boxset to a friend, who is not watching it... But I still pop onto youtube to watch Cons, Deleted scenes, Making ofs, and Gag reels. I love this show. Joss is Boss.

I don't know where I'm going with this, I'm annebriated and I'm just trying to say thank you."

So from Drunk Me and Sober Me - Thank you.

Oh yeah...next Chapter Title - "Aftermath"


	7. Aftermath

Aftermath

* * *

On the dusty planet of Deadwood in a foil covered and bullet hole ridden whore house, an aging Captain, Thomas Wu, shouted obscenities at his crew.

"We were supposed to be in and out, gorramit! Now there's a whole slew of dead folk outside, I've got a shot up shuttle, and"

Petaline interrupted the angry captain.

"Captain, I want to thank you and your crew but you're shoutin too much for me to be heard. I can understand how you aren't satisfied with the way things went down…"

Petaline looked to the ground where her dead employee still laid with his face gone.

"I'm not happy myself. But I think we should start picking up the pieces sooner rather than later. Widow Burgess is gonna start wondering why her men haven't reported in."

Thomas ran a hand over his bald head.

"Okay, you're right."

He looked to his crew.

"Jessie. Xioa. I need you two to get the shuttle back on Avandra, and clear out the hold as best you can. Stacey, you and the kid help Petaline with anything she needs."

Thomas turned back to Petaline.

"And Petaline, I don't think we have time right now for a burial. It might be best that we take your boys body with us, we could give him a Black Burial."

Petaline set her hands on her hips.

"No sir. I'll be burying him right here right now, myself."

Petaline turned to her "crew" and gave them orders to pack up everything as quickly as possible. She told one girl in particular to watch over Jonah, Petalines toddler.

Then she walked over to the only dead body in the room and grabbed him by his boots.

As she dragged him out back, everyone hesitated to move. Then Petaline looked up at them and said "Get movin."

* * *

About four hundred yards away, a sniper laid prone watching the whole situation through her scope. Her sight followed a woman dragging a body away from the house toward a shovel that had been stuck in the ground since the before the whole fight even started.

The sniper, Susan, thought about shooting this woman down. It's what snipers were trained to do. But she waited. She watched as the woman, tears flowing, dug into the hard dirt. Susan could see that the house was busy with movement and she could have shot down any number of folk, but she never took her sight away from the crying woman for long. After maybe an hour of digging, a man Susan guessed to be the ship captain came and seemed to offer help. The crying woman tried to shoo him away and they had a brief argument. The captain ended up giving up and walked off, leaving the woman to her task.

It was a total of three hours before she was finished digging the hole. Another thirty minutes covering it back up. An hour after that the ship labeled "Avandra" took off, leaving only Susan.

* * *

Authors note- It's extremely short, I know. And later than I'd said. Work's taking up alot of my time these days. I'm not giving up on this though.


End file.
